Unpopular Opinion: Chris Benoit should be in the WWE Hall of Fame

For as monstrous as his final acts were in real life, as a wrestler Chris Benoit belongs in the Hall of Fame.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are those of the author. Sportskeeda does not echo the same at all.

The WWE Hall of Fame is an important institution for the company. Many wrestlers seem to look at it as legitimately one of the highest honors they aspire to. Moreover, the induction ceremony has become a staple component of WrestleMania weekend for the Friday or Saturday night before the Biggs’s day show of the year.

The induction ceremony has lost some of its luster in recent years, though. Take the example of Ivory. She was a worthy inductee with a gift for gab. However, the kind of hardcore fans who traditionally best love the induction ceremony had heard her in podcast interviews like The Steve Austin Show and gotten the same dories in more detailed and engaging fashion shortly before she took the podium. Combine podcasts with documentaries and tell-all books, and a lot of what used to make the Hall of Fame induction ceremony so appealing and unique has fallen by the wayside.

One way of making the Hall more interesting again would be more surprising and controversial choices to go in, whose stories haven’t been as well broadcasted to wrestling fans up to this point. Jeff Jarrett filled that kind of spot this past year as thoroughly blacklisted talent leading up to that point, but his actual induction played it too safe, focusing only on his most vanilla WWE mid-card work and not even delving into his edgier character for the company, let alone more interesting stories from WCW or Impact.

Chris Benoit is a prime candidate for this kind of induction given how shrouded his legacy became after the double murder-suicide that ended his life.

Benoit is deserving, too, divorced from the vile acts at the end of his personal life. He was an all-time great in-ring technician, a World Heavyweight Champion, and Royal Rumble and WrestleMania main event winner. Benoit belongs in the Hall of Fame.